Big Sister, Little Sister
by love-stories.23
Summary: What a difference one little girl can make... One of Scully's New Year's resolutions changes everything for her and Mulder! Takes place after S07E04 Millenium. Not sure on what the rating will be, so will start of with a T.
1. The Interview

AN: Don't own the characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully or the others you might recognize. This is just for your (and my) enjoyment. I know I probably shouldn't upload a new story, but work on the ones I am already working on... but this one has been already partly written.

I've made myself promise to upload one chapter a week, for which story will depend on the mood I'm in :)

FBI Headquarters  
Washington D.C.

Friday January 7, 3:00 pm

Dana Scully was sitting opposite of Fox Mulder in their basement office, she was fidgeting. Today she was going to take the first step in fulfilling one of her New Year resolutions. She was going to the St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families and become a Big Sister to one of the girls who were enrolled in the Big Sister, Little Sister program they offered.

She had decided that, since she couldn't have children of her own, that didn't mean that she couldn't provide some comfort for and love to one of the thousands of children in dire need of just that, comfort and love. She had thought about applying for adoption, but after the Emily fiasco she wasn't sure that she wanted to go through that again, not just yet anyway.

She had done a thorough search and had decided to go St. Ann's because of their Catholic background and their non-discrimination policy. They didn't care about the social, economic, political and sexual backgrounds of their big sisters and big brothers. As long as they could provide references and background checks.

Her appointment was at 5:00 pm, so in order to be on time she would have to leave work early. She hadn't told Mulder about her plans and, for now at least, she wasn't planning on to. But she couldn't just leave without saying something. Especially on a Friday. She would have to tell him that she was leaving early.

'Mulder, I have an appointment at 5 I can't miss, so I'll be leaving soon.'

Mulder looked up from the file he was looking through. The look in his eyes betrayed his surprise that his partner had an appointment on a Friday afternoon.

'Yeah, sure Scully, you got a hot date or something?'

He was able to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but only just. It was only a week ago that he had kissed her in the hospital hall way at midnight of New Year's Eve. Ever since that kiss he wanted a repeat performance. Not only a repeat, but a continuation. Something more than just the chaste touching of lips on lips. He wanted her so much it hurt sometimes.

'I just have to be somewhere and since we don't have a case right now I thought it would be okay. I'm going to leave around 3.30.'

She had seen the look in his eyes, but she wouldn't tell him what she was going to do. This was just for her. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know what she was planning to do; she just didn't want him to know just yet. She wanted it to be just for her for now. Her whole life seemed to revolve around Fox Mulder and the X-files lately. And she wanted something for herself. She knew she would tell him eventually, but just for a little while, she wanted to keep this for herself. A little part of her life that wasn't connected to him or the X-files.

'Sure, far be it from me to keep one off us having a private life, why don't you just leave right now. It's not that we have something to work on. Go and enjoy your weekend.'

He hadn't looked at her when he had said that. He couldn't look at her right now, afraid that his emotions would be too visible on his face. He felt ashamed that he couldn't even look at her as he spoke the words. She did deserve a private life, a life outside the X-files. Hell, if anybody deserved to be happy for once it was her.

'Okay, you have a good weekend too; I'll see you Monday morning bright and early.'

When she left the office she could just hear him mutter to himself 'just don't have too good of a weekend please'.

St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families

Washington D.C.

Friday 7th January

4:50 pm

Scully was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for her appointment with the admission office off the Big Sister, Little Sister department. She had arrived early, wanting to make a good impression. She had always been a punctual person, but working with Mulder had made her be late for meetings and appointments more than she liked.

She thought back to the remark he had made just before she left the office. He actually sounded a little bit jealous, but he couldn't be, could he? She knew she had only added fuel to his mood when she elaborated about her appointment. But this was something she wanted to do by and for herself. She knew that at some point she would have to tell him, but for now, this was her private business. She hadn't even told her mother about her plans yet.

'Miss Scully, Sister Mary will see you now,' the secretary told her.

She entered the office and greeted the nun sitting behind a big oak desk. The room was not too big and a crucifix was placed on the wall behind the desk in between two ceiling to floor windows. The other walls, except the one with the door she had just stepped through, were covered with books and paintings with religious scenes. She recognized a depiction of Mary and Jesus and smiled at the sight.

'Thank you for meeting me at such short notice,' Scully said once she had entered the room and extended her hand to the nun.

'No problem, Miss Scully. We are always happy to meet with potential big sisters. There are far too few potential Big Sisters for the number of girls we have here, so when someone lets us know they are interested we jump to the change to meet them as soon as possible. This interview is part of the procedure. Besides this interview we ask you to provide some references and go through a background check. If any of that is a problem for you, please let me know now, so that we don't have to waste each other's time.'

'No, that will not be a problem at all. I'm an FBI agent, so the background check should be no problem. What kind of and how many references will you need?'

'One family member, one friend and a colleague should be enough for the references; we have some forms in the welcome package for you to take home they can fill in and you can return them with the detailed enrollment form. Since you work for the FBI I agree that a background check should not be a problem. But I think it might be a problem once you have enrolled in the program. Do you work from the bureau or do you also have to go out in the field?'

'I am a field agent, so I do have to leave for short times. Usually for a couple of days a week, 2 or 3 times a month. But I decided that I would do whatever it takes to keep my promises to my Little Sister. Because of my work sometimes I will not be able to keep an appointment, but I will do my utmost best to honor those appointments. Work has been my main focus for so long, but now I feel it is time that it has to take a second or maybe even third place in my life.'

'Can you tell me why you decided you wanted to be a Big Sister?'

Sister Mary asked seeming pleased with the answer Scully had given.

'My reasons are as selfless as they are selfish I guess. I found out recently that I am infertile and can't have any children of my own. Before I didn't have a very strong desire to have children, thinking there was enough time for that. Besides I didn't have a partner with whom I wanted to start a family with. But realizing that I can't have children made me realize that I did want to have a family. I guess we don't really know what we want until we can't have it. Because of my work I also realized there are a lot of children in need of some positive attention. I've seen so many young women who might have turned out differently if they had someone in their lives to be a positive influence. Girls who came from broken homes and turned to the streets to making a living. I think this is my chance to make a difference in one of those girls' lives, be a positive role model. Show them that they are worthy of love and affection. That they are perfect just the way they are. That they can be loved, without having to turn tricks. To help them reach their full potential.'

Sister Mary looked at Scully when she answered the question. She had decided that Miss Scully would be a perfect candidate for the program. She didn't really need to see the background check or the references, but for insurance purposes she knew she would have to have them anyway.

'Well, I think I know just the little girl who could benefit from your positive attention. I would still need your references and the results of the background check, but I don't think those will pose any problems. But until I receive them, I cannot let you meet her just yet. Do you think you could get the paper work done in the next couple of days? Then we can set up a meeting for some time next week for you to meet Katie.'

Scully was amazed, she hadn't expected everything to go this fast. She had expected a much intensive interview, maybe even some questions about her belief and her personal life. But she was relieved as well; finally something was going the easy way for her. It had been so long since that had happened.

'Yeah, yeah sure. I don't think that would be a problem. Maybe we can meet again next Friday afternoon? I think I can have all the paperwork done by then.'

She knew her mother would be more than happy to be her reference. She would ask Skinner as the colleague, he would be able to keep this a secret from Mulder. Normally she would have asked Mulder, either as her friend or as her colleague, but for some reason she wanted to keep this part of her life away from him for a little while. That left her friend Ellen as the last reference.

'The welcome package contains all the necessary forms and some basic information. Most of the Big Sisters meet with their Little Sister once a week. Mostly on as Saturday or Sunday. They do things together, like going to the park, see a movie, help with homework, and just talk if they want to and so on. Depending on the relationship the girls have with their parents and their home situation there are some cases where the Little Sister sometimes stays over for a night or where they go away for a few days. I think that in Katie's case that is something you might want to work towards. Her home life is less than ideal, and I think it is good that she has a chance to get away from that once in a while. I'll just print some off the information you need about Katie and put that in the package for you to read. That way you will be more prepared next Friday.'

With that Sister Mary left the office to complete the package. Scully was still amazed about what was happening. She knew she wasn't going to be a mother to this little girl, but she knew she would do anything in her power to help her trough the difficult times in her life.

When Scully left St. Ann's at 6.30 that evening she had a big smile on her face.


	2. Getting references

AN: thank you all for your reviews and favorites and following. That means a lot to me! So much so that I decided to upload the second chapter before I had planned to. Chapter 3 is mostly written and what will probably be chapter 5 and 6 are already written but might need some work. Chapter 4 still needs to be written though. Hopefully inspiration will strike this week so I can continue updating this story, along with my other stories :) Now on with the story...

* * *

 **Chapter 2 Getting references**

Dana Scully's apartment

Saturday 8 January

11:00 AM

After getting home on Friday night Scully had ordered some Chinese and enjoyed a peaceful evening, taking a bath and doing some reading in the welcome package.

Katie, the little girl who she was going to be a Big Sister to, was 6 years old. She lived with her mother, who was working two shitty jobs to pay the rent. Katie went to school and was doing well academically speaking, but was very shy and didn't have a lot of friends. One of her teachers had suggested to her mother, Madeline, to sign Katie up for the Big Sister, Little Sister program. Madeline had been only 16 when she'd had Katie. The relationship with Katie's father, Nick, had ended soon after Katie had been born. It had been a very abusive relationship. The guy still showed up from time to time demanding to see Katie and Madeline. Most of the time it was when he was dumped by his recent girlfriend and felt that he had the right to get what he wanted from Madeline. At one time he had raped Madeline with Katie in the other room; luckily one of the neighbors had heard the commotion and had called the police. Nick had been arrested, but Madeline had refused to press charges so he had been free to walk away.

Scully felt her heart tug at the thought of a little girl having to have heard her father abuse her mother in such a way. After that particular episode Katie had become more withdrawn and shy. She had also developed a fear of men in general. Afraid they would hurt her or her mother.

Now Scully was waiting for the time to meet her mother. She had called her mother Friday night to say that she needed to talk to her and asked her to meet her for lunch at their favorite bistro, Pigalle, just a few blocks from her house.

* * *

Bistro Pigalle

Georgetown

Saturday 8th January

12:00 AM

Scully was already sitting down with a cappuccino when her mother entered the bistro.

'Hello dear, is everything all right? You sounded funny on the phone yesterday,' Maggie Scully said as a greeting to her youngest daughter.

'Yes Mom, everything is fine. I just have to talk to you and ask you to do something for me.'

The waitress had approached their table and they both ordered their food and some drinks. When the waitress left Scully started to tell her tale.

She told Maggie about her plans and the interview she'd had the day before. She told her what she knew about Katie and that she needed three references for her application.

'Of course I'll fill in the reference for you Dana. I think this is a very noble thing to do, and I think it is what right for you. Will you ask Fox for a reference as well?'

Scully blushed when Maggie asked her this.

'No, for now I want to keep this to myself. I don't know why, but I need a life outside the Bureau. I need a part of my life away from Mulder and the X-files. I need to prove to myself that I can have a part of my life that has nothing to do with the X-files or with him.'

'But...'

'I will tell him, I promise. I don't want to lie to him or keep things from him. He is my best friend, but just for a little while I need some time away from him. Things have become so complicated lately. I need some time to figure things out, some time to breath. To know that I still exist. Just be Dana for a while, instead off agent Scully or Doctor Scully.'

Her blush hadn't gone away as she had said this and Maggie knew something had happened between the two partners. Something Dana hadn't told her about yet.

'What happened Dana?'

'He kissed me on New Year's Eve.'

Dana said, but she whispered as she said it, blushing even more.

Maggie smiled from ear to ear. She knew her daughter was in love with her partner. Even if she didn't want to acknowledge it herself. And she also knew that Fox was madly in love with Dana. They both were too afraid to do anything about it.

'About time!' Maggie exclaimed.

'MOM!'

'Was it that bad? I can't image Fox being a bad kisser, but maybe I'm wrong...'

'It isn't that. It was just a chaste kiss anyway. I don't think I even reacted other than closing my eyes. It was over before I even realized what was happening. But we shouldn't be doing things like that. We're partners and best friends. I shouldn't want him to kiss me and I shouldn't want to kiss him. That's another reason I need a part of my life apart from Mulder. I need to have a life without him. I need to get over whatever I'm feeling for him.'

'Why honey? I'm pretty sure Fox wants the same things you do. You just have to let your walls down and see how much you mean to him. And don't give me that crap about Bureau policy about 'fraternizing' with your partner. I think those rules are there for a reason. To protect the women in the Bureau from sexual harassment. I highly doubt that is the case with you two. Just take your time and think about everything. Maybe keeping this to yourself is the right thing for now. But don't shut him out of your private life completely.'

Scully didn't know what to say after that, so she did what she did best, change the subject. She took out the reference form she had brought with her from her bag and handed it to her mother. They agreed that Scully would come by for diner on Tuesday to pick up the form. After that lunch went by quickly, talking about recent developments in their family. Maggie told her about the call she had gotten from Bill and updated Scully on her brother's life.

They went their separate way after lunch. Scully had a meeting with Ellen and Maggie went to some friends' house.

Scully ended up spending the rest of the day with Ellen and her son Trent. Ellen filled in the reference form happily and the discussed all the things Scully could do with little Katie. They even tentatively discussed meeting up, the four of them doing something. After a delicious dinner Scully went home. Now she only had to ask Skinner to fill in a form and she would be all set. She couldn't ask him on the weekend so that had to wait until Monday.

* * *

FBI Headquarters

Washington D.C.

Monday 10 January

Scully had arrived early on Monday morning and had called Skinners office as soon as she knew someone would be there. Luckily Skinner had some time in his agenda so he had been able to see her at 10 AM.

When Mulder had arrived at the office he had looked grumpy and his mood even seemed to sour when he had seen the smile on Scully's face. He had barely managed to grunt out a good morning to her. She wasn't going to let him spoil her good mood so she just ignored him. At 10 she excused herself and went to Skinner's office.

She told him about the Big Sister, Little Sister program and asked him to fill out a reference form for her. He happily agreed and filled it in on the spot. When she came back to the office Mulder was nowhere to be seen, so Scully sighed and started finishing her paperwork on their latest case. It hadn't been an X-file, but a murder case they had helped on.

The next few days they hardly spoke to each other, Mulder hadn't asked her about her weekend. She had tried to make conversation with him, but he had closed all avenues of conversation quickly. Before she knew it, it was Friday again and she had to leave early again. At 3 she just closed her laptop, packed up her things and left with a wishing him a good weekend.

* * *

In chapter 3 Scully (and you) will get to meet her Little Sister...


	3. Meeting Katie

AN: usual disclaimer applies, not mine (except for the nuns, Katie and Melinda).

* * *

St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families

Washington D.C.

Friday 14th January

4:30 pm

Scully was waiting patiently in the reception area of the center. She was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a soft maroon woolen sweater. Contrary to public opinion within the bureau she did own clothing other than the stark suits, but she was thinking that she would have to go shopping now for more off them. Spending time with a 6 year old would need something different than pant suits and skirts.

She had been told that Melinda and Katie would be arriving shortly. They had to go to the center using public transportation and had been delayed a little bit.

At 4:30 the door to the reception area opened and a young woman entered the room, she looked in her early twenties and she looked worn out. Scully thought she would have been beautiful, if she hadn't looked so tired and worn out. A little girl with long brown curls and beautiful brown eyes emerged behind her back; she was wearing jeans that had seen better days and a long sleeved shirt. Despite the condition of the clothes they were clean and for that Scully felt somewhat relieved.

She was carrying a brown teddy bear which looked thoroughly used; there were bald patches on the claws and around the ears. It was very hard to read their expressions, but Scully thought she could see some apprehension in both of their faces. A nun followed the women in to the room and closed the door behind them.

'Katie, Melinda, I would like you to meet Dana. Dana has been assigned as your big sister Katie. She's come here today to meet you and your mother. And when you two like each other, than you can spend some time with Dana. Dana can help you with your schoolwork or take you out for the day.'

Scully stood up from where she was sitting and approached the little girl and her mother. First she hastily shook hands with Melinda and then she crouched down to Katie's height.

'Hello Katie, it's very nice to meet you. I know this must be a little bit scary for you, but I promise you there is nothing to be afraid of.'

Katie looked Scully in the eyes with a very serious look and nodded. She was scared a bit. There was this strange woman here who would take her away from her mother. What if this Dana didn't like her or what if she hurt her?

Scully saw the emotions going through Katie's head. The nun asked Melinda to come with her, so that Scully and Katie could spend some time together.

Scully stood up again and motioned towards the coach she had been sitting on before Katie had entered the room.

'Do you want to sit down for a little while?'

Katie nodded and went and sat on the coach. Scully sat next to her, making sure she wouldn't be sitting to close to the scared little girl.

'You know, I'm also a little bit scared. I've never done anything like this before. I'm not really used to spending my time with 6 year old girls. But I do know that I would like to get to know you better. I bet we can have lots of fun together. I noticed your teddy bear. He looks really cuddly and I bet he is your favorite teddy bear, is he?'

'His name is Teddy and mommy got it for me when I was born. He sleeps with me every night and doesn't mind having a tea party with my dolls. Do you have a teddy bear?'

'No I don't, not anymore, but I did have one when I was your age. He was called Pooh, from Winnie the Pooh. I don't think he liked my tea parties very much though, he preferred playing in the 100 acre forest with Tigger and Piglet, I think. So most of the time it was just me and my dolls and my sister for our tea parties.'

'I like Winnie the Pooh, it's my favorite book and mommy reads it to me all the time.'

'Than we have something in common already, because I still like Winnie the Pooh. Which character do you like best?'

They talked about Winnie the Pooh for a while, coming to the conclusion that Katie liked Tigger best and Dana settled on Eeyore as her favorite.

Dana had taken an instant shining to the little girl, sure she was apprehensive, but she didn't expect any less. She had tried to put herself in the 6 year olds mind. How would she have reacted, when at that age, some strange woman had come along and wanted to spend time with her, taking her away from her family.

Katie seemed to warm up a little bit after the conversation about Winnie the Pooh and his friends. She was starting to get curious about this Dana. Why would she want to spent time with her? What would they do together? So in a small voice, she asked Dana.

'Well, I think it would be nice to spend some time with a little girl like you. Be there for her when she needs her and do fun things with her, maybe go see a movie or go to the park. But also help her with her homework and always be there when she just wants to talk or read to her. So I came here and the nuns decided that you are the girl who needs all that. They told me that your mom has to work very hard, and doesn't always have time for you, at least not as much as she want too. I don't want you to think that I want to replace your mommy, because that's not the case. This way you get to do the things a 6 year old should be able to do, safely, and your mom will have some more time for herself and not have to worry about you. And when your mom has a little bit more time for herself and doesn't have to worry about where you are, maybe she can relax and rest a little bit and spent more time with you when she does have the time.'

Scully hoped that Katie would understand what she was saying and that she was explaining it age appropriately.

'So what do you think, do you think you would like to spend some more time with me? Maybe go to the park sometime, or do something else you enjoy?'

Scully felt nervous when she asked Katie this question. What if the little girl said no, she had already felt a strong connection to her and would love to be her Big Sister. And if she said no, would the program have another girl for her? But she needed have worried, because she saw Katie nod.

It was as if the nun who had taken away Melinda had been watching, because now she entered the room again, with Melinda. The nun had explained to Melinda about Scully's motives and her background, it was always important that the parents would agree with the choice of Big Sister for their child, and Melinda had approved of Scully wholeheartedly.

Melinda walked over to her daughter and asked her if she wanted to spend more time with Dana and again the little girl nodded. The arranged for a first meeting the next weekend on Saturday. Dana would pick up Katie from the center at 9 in the morning and bring her back at 5 that afternoon. It was normal procedure to pick the child up from the center the first time. After that it was up to the parents and the Big Sister to decide the pickups and the days and times for spending time together.

* * *

Dana Scully's apartment

Georgetown

Saturday 15th January

10:50 am

It had been after six when Scully had left the center after meeting with Katie. She decided to pick up some Italian take out on her way home and spend the evening going over her meeting with Katie and trying to think up things they could do together.

Now it was Saturday and she was on the phone to her mom. She told her all about Katie and her worries about what they could be doing next Saturday. Her mother reassured her that everything would be fine. Sure it would be strange to spend a day with a perfectly strange little girl, but she reminded her daughter that it would be stranger and scarier for Katie than it was for her.

Maggie had some nice suggestion for what they could be doing, but suggested that she would take it easy the first couple of meetings. Maybe just go play in the park and watch a movie at home. Going out for ice cream would have to wait until summer. She also reminded Dana to make sure she had 'child friendly' food in the house. When Dana complained that she wouldn't know what that was, Maggie commented dryly that she would just have to think about what Mulder would love to eat.

Scully spend the rest of the weekend doing grocery shopping and going to the mall, she needed some more jeans and comfortable clothes. She'd also decided to put her extra bedroom into good use and bought a single bed with all the necessities. She thought it would be nice if Katie would help with the decorating, so she refrained from buying all the lovely things she saw.

* * *

Next up: what will Katie and Dana do for their first 'play date' and when and how will Mulder find out about little Katie...


	4. Confrontation

AN: I don't own the X-files or its characters. Just having some fun with them.

* * *

Chapter 4 Confrontation

The first couple of Saturdays with Katie had been a little bit strange. They were both trying to get to know each other; and in Katie's case, getting to trust Dana. They had spent the first Saturday at Dana's house watching a movie; with a visit to the park nearby.

Slowly, but surely, Katie began to trust Dana and Dana could relax around her and enjoy their time together. They had some fun filled Saturdays, going to the park when it wasn't too cold, staying in with hot cocoa and a movie or making a puzzle when the weather was bad.

Katie told Dana about the things that happened at school, she told her when she was sad and when she was happy.

It was March now, and Dana had managed to persuade Melinda to go to her hometown to spend some time with her parents and some of her friends from high school. Katie would come over for her first sleep over that weekend. All three of them were looking forward to the weekend. Melinda trusted Dana with her daughter and was grateful someone was looking after her. She had noted the differences in her daughter since she had been spending time with Dana. Katie was still very shy and withdrawn, but slowly she was opening up.

* * *

FBI Headquarters

Friday 17 March 2000

2:00 PM

It was quiet that Friday afternoon but suddenly Scully's cell phone rang in the silent basement office. When she looked at it, she didn't recognize the number. She hoped it wasn't some out of town country sheriff asking for assistance on a case. Most of the time Mulder was the one who got those calls, but every once in a while somehow somebody would get ahold of her number and call her. With a sigh she answered the phone. Now was not the time to go out of town, Melinda was going to go away for the weekend and have some fun. She was only 22 after all; she needed some time with girls her own age, without having to worry about her daughter. Katie was supposed to stay with her for the weekend, she was really looking forward to it, and Katie seemed to be excited as well.

'Miss Scully, this is headmistress Jones from Katie's school. I'm afraid we are having some trouble here. Katie's father showed up. He must have heard that Melinda was going away for the weekend and now he demands that he take Katie for the weekend. I know that Katie is supposed to stay with you this weekend and I don't think he is supposed to have Katie unsupervised or for longer than a few hours. Would it be possible for you to come over here? Pour Katie is quite upset about this whole business, and Nick doesn't seem to want to leave anytime soon.'

Scully was quite shocked when she heard the headmistress. She hadn't had the "pleasure" of meeting Katie's father (more like donor she thought) yet, but she knew that would be only a matter of time now.

'I'll be there as soon as I can, it will probably take me close to an hour at this time to get there, and do you think you'll be able to contain the situation until then?'

'Yes, I think we can do that, but please come as soon as you can,' the headmistress answered.

'I'll leave right now; I'll be there as soon as I can.'

Scully hung up the phone and looked at Mulder. She knew he had been listening to her phone conversation. She still hadn't told him about Katie and now was not the time.

'I have to go right now, Mulder, can you handle everything here?' she asked him.

'Of course, but maybe we can get together this weekend and go over these files some more,' he asked.

He had not asked to go over to her place for a few weeks now. She knew that he didn't like it that they didn't spend as much time together as they used to, and part of her missed it as well, but right now was not the time to dwell on that.

'I'm sorry, but I have plans this weekend, work will have to wait till Monday. I need to leave now, have a nice weekend,' she said as she rushed out of the door.

But before she could close the door of the office she heard him say 'have a nice weekend with your _boyfriend_ '. He didn't know how wrong he was she thought.

* * *

Katie's school

2:45 PM

45 minutes later she arrived at Katie's school. She had made good time; there had been a lot less traffic than she had anticipated. She had picked up Katie from school once, but hadn't been inside that time. So when she entered the building she had no idea where to go, but she didn't need to ask anyone for directions. From the noise and the shouts it was clear where the office of the headmistress was located. She quickly made her way through the hall way towards the noise. She could hear Nick shouting angrily, but couldn't make out his words just yet.

When she opened the door to the office the first thing she registered was Katie sitting on a stool, looking very small and with tears on her face. She didn't have a chance to see anything else, because suddenly a man was standing in front of her. It could only be Nick.

'So you're the bitch who is taking my daughter away from me?' he shouted at her.

Before she could respond she felt his right fist connect with her face and her head flew back. Her lip split at the impact and the door was hitting her in the back of her head. She was dazed for a few seconds and couldn't react. Nick took advantage of this and before anyone in the room could respond; he hit her in the face again with his left hand. This time he didn't hit her lip, but her right cheekbone with his left hand and his right hit her on her ribs, right under her left breast. Finally Scully's training kicked in and when he pulled back his arm, her right arm shot out and before he knew it he was on the floor with Scully on his back, putting her handcuffs on him.

When she saw that Nick was secured and wouldn't be going anywhere she stood up hastily and went over to Katie, who was crying and yelling at her dad to stop hurting Dana.

'Shh, shh, honey. It's all right, I'm all right. Nobody's going to hurt you,' Scully cooed to the little girl.

As soon as Scully was close enough Katie had flung herself around her. All Scully could do was hold her, stroke her back and hair and whisper soothing words to her. After a few minutes of this, the headmistress coughed to make her presence know. Scully stood up at that and addressed the woman.

'I'd like to call the police so they can arrest him,' she said while nodding towards the man on the floor.

'I'm going to take Katie with me to the hallway so she doesn't have to stay with him any longer. Is there some security to stay with him?'

As soon as she had finished saying this the door opened and a security guard entered the room. He had only just stepped out before Scully had arrived to call the police because of all the trouble Nick had caused.

'The cops will be here in about 10 minutes,' the guard said with an amused look on his face when he saw Nick lying on the floor in handcuffs. Then he saw Scully's face and the look changed from amused to horror.

'Are you all right Miss?' he asked.

'I'll be fine, I just want to have him arrested and since I'm his victim I think it will be better if someone else does that. I just cuffed him to stop him and to protect us.'

'Dana is an FBI agent,' Katie said with a small but proud voice.

When the cops arrived they took Scully's statement and asked her to come by Monday for a full statement. The headmistress was asked to come on Monday as well to tell her side of the events. Since Katie was only six they only asked her a few questions. But from what they had heard Scully had been correct to put Nick in handcuffs. They arrested him and took him away. It was 6 PM by now and Scully wanted to take Katie home with her.

'Katie, did your mom give you your overnight bag to you this morning?' she asked the little girl.

Katie nodded and said that it was in her classroom, so they went there to retrieve it.

On the way home they decided that they deserved some greasy and fatty foods. Katie loved McDonalds, but hardly went there. Money was always tight and Scully didn't want to indulge her too much, but thought that today could be an exception.

Before leaving the school Scully had been to the restrooms to clean up her face. Her lip was throbbing, as was her cheekbone and her ribs. She was going to have a nice shiner by the end of the night. But there would be no permanent damage. She knew the signs of a concussion and had concluded that she didn't have one. She would need some painkillers later to help with the pain.

When they arrived home at 8 PM Katie was very tired, so Scully took her to the spare bedroom, which she had already prepared for Katie and put her to bed. When she returned to the living room changed in some comfortable pajama bottoms and a sweat shirt, she poured herself some iced tea and sat down on her couch to watch some TV.

* * *

Next chapter, in which Mulder will finally meet Katie, is almost finished...


	5. Overreacting

AN: and here is the next chapter. As usual, I don't own these characters and am not making any profit from this, only little happy dances when I get a review :)

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Chapter 5 Overreacting

Dana Scully's apartment

Friday 17 March 2000

9:25 PM

Scully was dozing on her couch when she heard a knock on her door. *Who can that be at this time of night?* she thought. The only person who came unannounced at this time of night was Mulder and she hoped it wasn't him. She didn't want to face him like this. Slowly she made her way to the door and stood on her toes to look out the peephole in her door. A sigh escaped her, it was Mulder... She opened the door for him, but before she could even say anything he had seen the bruises on her face and her split lip and started to shout.

'What the fuck, Scully! Where is your idiotic boyfriend, I'll kill him for hitting you!'

'Mulder, calm down, this isn't what it looks like…'

But for she could continue Mulder had made his way in to her living room, livid.

'Don't defend that scumbag. I thought you knew better. Where is he, please tell me he isn't here. Or maybe better yet, tell me he is here so I can give him a matching set!'

He was seething; she had never seen him so livid. But before she could respond she heard a small voice from behind her.

'Please don't hurt Dana, don't hurt me…'

Scully's heart broke when she heard Katie and she saw the shock on Mulder's face when he saw the little girl. Her big brown eyes brimmed with tears; some had already made their way on to her angelic face. She looked so scared and so fragile.

'Mulder could you please go into the kitchen and wait for me there?'

Without waiting for a reply Scully went over to Katie and picked her up and went to sit on the couch with her on her lap.

'He isn't going to hurt us honey, he is a good guy. Remember I told you not all men are bad? That there are men who are nice and who you can trust? Well, he is one of them. He was just scared when he saw my black eye and my lip, but if you want too I can ask him to come over here and you two can meet. His name is Fox and we work together at the FBI and he really is a nice guy. He would rather die than hurt me or hurt you.'

She and Katie had had a talk about men in general and her dad a just 2 weeks ago. She couldn't remember what had been the reason it came up, but she had stressed that not all men were like her father. That there were good men in the world, men you could trust and who would do anything in their power to protect you. She'd talked about Mulder in particular, as an example. She had explained that he was her best friend and that he would do anything for her and that he would never ever hurt her. She'd even suggested that, when Katie wanted too, she would ask Mulder to come over and meet her.

'But he was so angry and he was shouting. I got scared he was going to hit you just like my dad did.' Katie replied softly.

'I know honey, and I'm sorry. He just didn't expect to see me like this and that scared him a little bit I think. Do you think it will be okay if I ask him to come over here and meet you? I've wanted you to meet him for some time now. He's my best friend and I'll bet he would want to be your friend too.'

Katie nodded shyly and Scully sat her down on the couch and told her she would be right back. She sighed again and went to the kitchen. She would have to talk to Mulder first before introducing him to Katie, but knew that she couldn't take too much time.

* * *

She made her way over to the kitchen. Mulder was standing at the sink, visibly shaking. Before he could say anything she addressed him.

'Mulder, please listen for a minute. I will explain everything to you later after Katie has gone back to bed, but could you please find a way to hide your anger for a little while, for Katie's sake? She's a scared little girl right now and she doesn't need to see you fly off the handle. I promise I'll explain everything when she's gone to bed, but for now I would very much like the two of you to meet.'

Mulder had looked her in the face the whole time and she could see the anger in his eyes. Not necessarily towards her, but towards the person who had done this to her. He nodded and with a big gulp of breath steadied his breathing and pushed his anger down. She could see him relaxing a little bit. The promise to tell him everything seemed to calm him a little bit.

Together they made their way to the living room. Katie was still sitting on the couch, looking very small. She was wearing pretty pink pajamas with little stars on them. She wasn't crying anymore, but there were still streaks on her cheeks from the tears she'd shed.

'Sweetie, I want you to meet my best friend. This is M... Fox; remember what I just told you?'

Scully corrected herself, she was about to introduce Mulder as Mulder, but decided that using his given name would be better. She couldn't see the smile on Mulder's face when she introduced him as her best friend and used his given name, because she was looking at Katie.

She saw Katie nod shyly and saw she was looking at Mulder with a little bit off fright in her eyes. It was so hard to see her look at a man and be instantly afraid. She wanted to teach the little girl that not all men were evil. That there where good and gently and kind men in the world, and that Fox Mulder was one of them.

'Hello Katie, it's very nice to meet you,' Mulder said to the little girl. He knew she was afraid of him, so he didn't approach her just yet. It hurt him that the girl was afraid of him. He was ashamed that he had made her feel that way by the way he'd reacted when he had seen Scully's bruises and split lip.

'Fox is a very funny name,' Katie said and a small smile graced her lips.

'Yeah, it is, isn't it? I think Katie is a very beautiful name for a beautiful girl.'

Katie relaxed a bit and Scully sat down next to her and gestured to Mulder to sit on her other side. Now it was time to introduce these two properly.

'I've told Katie that we work together and that you don't want to hurt us. I've been Katie's Big Sister since January and we've spent some time together on the weekends since then. This weekend we're having our first sleepover and we're going to have a lot of fun, don't we Katie?'

'Yes, Dana said we can do whatever I want to do this weekend, as long as I listen and do my homework as well.' Katie answered, still looking slightly wearied at Mulder.

'I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun with Dana. I know I always have a lot of fun with her when I spend time with her. Do you know what you want to do yet?'

'We've talked about it and maybe we will go swimming or go to the zoo. I've heard they opened a new one not too far from here. It has all kinds of animals and some rides and an indoor playground.'

Dana saw Katie's eyes lit up when she mentioned the Zoo, Fox also saw it. He decided to try to loosen the girl up a little bit and joke with her.

'I think I know where you want to go,' he said to the girl, 'I bet I can guess what you want to do. You want to go to the library and look at stuffy books all day.'

Dana caught up on Fox's intentions and decided to play along.

'Oh, I hadn't thought about that, I think that would be so much fun, wouldn't it Katie?'

Seeing the look on Katie's face she immediately realized that Katie thought their suggestion was for real and that she would have to spend the day in a stuffy library.

'Oh honey, Fox was just making a joke. We can do whatever you want to do tomorrow. Would you like to go to the zoo?'

Katie nodded and her eyes lit up again. 'Can we really?'

'Yes we can, but right now it is time for you to go back to bed again. It's really late and if we are going to spend all day at the zoo tomorrow you'll need all the sleep you can get. So let's get you back to bed. Say goodnight to Fox.'

With that Dana stood up and took Katie's hand and after saying her goodnight she took the girl back to "her" bedroom. They hadn't decorated it yet, so other than a bed, with a pink duvet, it could have been a normal spare bedroom. Dana was planning on taking Katie shopping on Sunday, so that they could buy some decoration and stuff for the room.

After tucking Katie in, Dana went back to the living room. She knew she had some explaining to do.

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Thanx for reading, would love to hear from you guys :)


	6. Explanation

So sorry to keep you guys waiting for an update, but real life got in the way big time. Not sure how often I will be able to update, but hopefully I'll get some inspiration, time and motivation in the next couple of days.

Hope you'll enjoy the next chapter :)

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Chapter 6 Explanation

Dana Scully's apartment

Friday 17 March 2000

10:45 PM

'Would you like something to drink?' she knew she was stalling, but she sure could use a little bit more time before she explained everything to Mulder.

'Sure, some ice tea would be nice,' Mulder answered.

Scully went to the kitchen and came back with an ice tea for Mulder and a glass of water for herself.

'Thank you for the way you acted with Katie and for trying to make her feel at ease a little bit. I guess now it's time to tell you what happened,' Scully started after she sat down.

'The phone call I got this afternoon at the office was the headmistress of Katie's school. Her father had shown up and wanted to take her with him. He's not allowed to do that, he's not allowed to see her without supervision, and only for a few hours a week. But he was threatening and being abusive towards the staff. He must have heard that Melinda, that's Katie's mum, was going away for the weekend and figured that he could use that to take Katie. The headmistress luckily knew that I was going to look after Katie for the weekend and called me.

'When I arrived at the school Nick was yelling and screaming and being a nuisance. When he saw me, he saw red and before I knew it he was yelling at me, calling me names, but worse of all, he managed to hit me before I was able to restrain him.

'Luckily the security guard had called the police and they took him away to the precinct, after getting an account of the events from everyone involved.'

Mulder had been sipping his drink and stayed silent during her speech, he knew better than to interrupt her, but now he felt he needed to say something.

'I hope they are keeping him over the weekend. I'd better not run into him somewhere, I don't think I would be able to control myself. Fucking bastard.'

'Yeah, they're keeping him. I have to go to the precinct on Monday for my statement, as does the headmistress. Hopefully they will limit his visitation rights with Katie even more now, maybe even take them away. That little girl has been through so much because of him.'

He nodded. 'So this is how you've been spending you're free time the last couple of months. Being a big sister to a beautiful 6 year old. God, I feel like such an ass now. I just thought you didn't want to spend time with me anymore, that you had a boyfriend and that's who you were spending all your time with...'

He even managed to slightly color as he said those words.

'I feel like I owe you an explanation Mulder. After everything I went through with my infertility and with Emily I thought really hard about my desire to have children. I'd never really thought about having children. It was something I wanted in the future, but not right now. And then I found out I didn't have a choice anymore, I couldn't, _no can't_ , have children.

'And that was really hard. And the whole fiasco with trying to adopt Emily, my own daughter for crying aloud, made me think about whether or not I wanted to go through that again, only to be rejected again. I decided that I did want the chance to have children in my life, so I started to explore the opportunities. I found the Big Sister, Little Sister program and entered it. This way I can give one little girl the guidance and love she needs. In January I had my interview and shortly after that I got to meet Katie and ever since we have been spending every weekend I'm in town together. She's very shy and afraid of men in general, because of her father. But slowly she's opening up to me. I look forward to every Saturday I get to spend with her. She is so easy to love.'

Tears started to form in Scully's eyes. It was still very hard for her to talk about her infertility, but they were also tears for all the pain Katie had been through in her short life.

'I never meant to keep this from you, I was going to tell you, but first I had to built a relationship with Katie and get her to trust me. Then I would introduce her slowly to other people in my life. She's already met my mom, but that was easy. Everyone who has ever met her loves her. You were going to be next, but because you're a man, I wasn't sure how I was going to do that. '

'I can understand why you would want to protect Katie and built a relationship with her first, and why you were hesitant about introducing me to her, but you could have told me about her Scully. I would have understood and I would have been happy for you. Happy that you've found something that means this much to you. Happy that you've found something that makes you happy. Spending time with her does make you happy, doesn't it?'

'Yes, it does, it really does,' Scully answered. 'As for why I didn't tell you... I just needed something away from work, from the X files and from you. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I just needed to be Dana again. Not Agent Scully, Doctor Scully or Scully, just Dana. I needed to know that she still exists. Ever since I started working on the X files I lost so much, and not only my sister or my ability to have my own children, but also myself. I lost the person I was before I started working with you. I wanted to see if she still somewhere inside me.'

Scully saw that Mulder wanted to say something, but before he could she continued.

'And before you say anything, I don't blame anything on you. I made the choice to work with you and to keep working with you, even when things got hard. I know you probably feel responsible for everything that has happened to me, but you're not. _They_ are, the men who took me, the men who killed Melissa, not you.'

'I think I understand. At least a little bit. I can't say that it doesn't hurt, to know that you've kept something from me, but I understand you're reasons. I am glad that you've thought about introducing me to Katie and that you wouldn't have kept this from me forever. And somethings make more sense now. The way you looked forward to the weekends and how grumpy you got when we had to go out of town on a case on a weekend. And there I was, thinking it was because you were having to cancel a date with your boyfriend, when in fact, all you wanted was to spent time with Katie. I kinda feel bad thinking that now...'

'I'm sorry too, for letting you think I had a boyfriend. But it was easier that way. And I kinda liked that it made you act a little bit jealous.'

'I wasn't jealous!'

'Yes you were, and that's okay. It shows that you care about me. I would have been jealous too if I thought you were having a girlfriend.'

They were entering dangerous water now, the conversation was going into a direction neither of them was ready for. Mulder decided that now would be a good time to say his goodbyes and leave.

'It's getting late, I should leave. Let you get some sleep. I'm sure you'll have a very enthusiastic 6 year old by your bed early tomorrow.'

With that he stood up and went to the door. Scully followed him, so she could lock the door behind him.

'I hope you two have a lovely day tomorrow and I'll see you Monday at work.'

He was almost out the door before Scully said his name. He turned around to look at her and saw she was struggling with something. It was as if she wasn't sure about what she was about to do or say. She was suddenly standing very close to him, almost touching him. Before he could figure out what all this meant he felt her soft lips on his cheek and the corner of his mouth.

'Thank you, thank you for understanding, this means a lot to me,' she softly said after she had stepped back from him. All he could do was smile a small smile at her and say goodnight.

All Scully could think after she closed the door was "oh my God, I kissed him!". And with that thought she went to bed. It took her quite some time to fall asleep, but knowing that she would indeed have a very enthusiastic 6 year old by her bed the next day was giving her a bit more motivation to try to sleep, instead of dreaming about the fact that she kissed her partner. So instead of daydreaming about it, her subconsciousness made up for that and let her really dream about it.

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Reviews are greatly appreciated, it lets me know that you are still interested in this story. I have some ideas what to do in the next chapters (including a visit to the Zoo), but if any of you have suggestions I'm more than happy to see if I can incorporate them in the story.


	7. Unexpected guest

Soooo, I know it's been forever since I posted anything. Life and other stuff got in the way. I hope that you are still interested in this story. Hopefully I will have more time and ideas to keep this story going. I really do want to finish this story.

Sorry for keeping you waiting so long (I personally hate it when I really like a story and there are no new chapters...)

On with the story...

Dana Scully's apartment

Saturday 18 March 2000

06:10 AM

The next morning Dana was woken by a very exuberant 6 year old. Katie had woken up very early and decided she couldn't wait any longer, so she got out of bed and went into Dana's room.

'Dana, Dana, wake up! It's morning, can we go to the Zoo now?'

Dana slowly opened her eyes and had to smile at the sight before her. Katie had already dressed, but had done a poor job of it. She had chosen a bright pink t-shirt with a unicorn and an orange skirt. Her hair was still messy from sleeping.

'Good morning sunshine, did you sleep well?' Dana asked her, still with a smile on her lips.

'Yes, thank you. But now I'm awake and I want to go to the Zoo. Can we go already? I've already put my clothes and everything.' She was jumping up and down, with excitement in her eyes.

'Sweetheart, it is still too early to go to the Zoo. Even though we have to drive for a while, it is still too early. Maybe you can go back to bed for a little while and try and get some more sleep. The more sleep you'll get, the better you will able to enjoy your day.' Dana answered.

But Katie was determined that she didn't need any more sleep. Eventually Dana managed to get her to agree to crawl in to bed with her.

'Okay, now try to fall asleep. If that doesn't work, just close your eyes and rest. Think about the animals you want to see today and what you want to do in the Zoo. Then on the way over we can talk about that.'

At 6:30 both ladies were asleep again.

When Dana woke up next it was from her alarm clock at 8 o'clock. She hadn't really been afraid of oversleeping, but after the event of last night, she was glad that she had. Katie had started on the right side of the bed when she got in that morning. But she had migrated to the middle of the bed, snuggling close to Dana. She cherished this moment of unguarded affection.

They had grown closer, but it was still very hard for Katie to express her emotions and affection. Dana could understand that. She came from a loving family, unlike Katie, and she had problems expressing her emotions and affection.

Oh, Dana was sure Katie's mother did everything she could, but she could sense there were issues there. Especially with what she knew about, and experienced, with Katie's dad. And to see this beautiful little girl vulnerable and trusting, made her heart swell with pride and joy.

Next to her Katie started to stir and wake up.

'Can we go to the Zoo now?', she asked with a sleepy voice.

'First we are going to get dressed and have some breakfast. After that we can go to the Zoo.' Dana answered.

'But I'm already dressed. Look I'm wearing my favorite shirt and skirt.'

'And they are beautiful, but maybe you should wear a pair of jeans to go to the Zoo. You can keep your shirt on, but jeans might be a bit more practical. You can help me pick out my clothes for me after breakfast.'

Dana had seen the slightly disappointed look in Katie's eyes when she was told that she couldn't keep her skirt on, but hoped to appease the little girl with the offer to let her help pick out her clothes. She just had to be sure to have an acceptable selection of clothes from which she could choose.

Together they made their way to the kitchen. Dana started her coffee maker and poured two cups of orange juice. Katie was busy setting the table for the both of them.

'What would you like for breakfast, sweetie? You can have French toast or egg soldiers.'

Dana had learned early on that it was better to give Katie a choice between two or three options, because otherwise it would take forever for her to decide what to have or what to do.

'Egg soldiers, please,' replied Katie.

Dana put on a pan of water on the stove to boil the eggs and got the toaster from her cupboard for the toast.

Ten minutes later they were sitting down to eat.

'So have you thought about which animal you would like to see the most? I think the lions and the giraffes are my favorites.'

'Ehm, do you think they have penguins at the Zoo. I like the way the way they walk, it is so funny to watch,' Katie giggled.

'I'm pretty sure they do. Anything else you want to see or do while we're there?'

Katie kept quiet for a minute, deep in thought and absentmindedly dipping on of her "soldiers" in her egg.

'I don't know, I've never been to the a Zoo before, what else is there to do?'

'Well, this is a very special Zoo. It has a big indoor playground and they have there rides. For example, you can go an Safari over the Savana or ride a boat through the Jungle,' Dana answered.

'Wow, that sounds really cool!'

'Yes it does, doesn't it?'

They talked a little bit more about the different rides and the different kinds of animals they might be able to see that day. Suddenly Katie became quiet and she looked a little bit nervous.

'What is it, honey. Is there something wrong?'

'No, I was just thinking… Do you think Fox would like to go to the Zoo too?'

Dana was surprised, to say the least. Katie was very shy, but she must have taken a liking to Mulder for her to ask her this. She wasn't sure what her partners plans were for the weekend. But if it would make Katie happy, she would ask him. Since it was nearly half past eight now, she was pretty sure he was still asleep, but it couldn't hurt to phone him and find out.

'Well,' she said, 'I think he might enjoy it. Would you like it if he came with us?'

'Yes, I know I was a little bit scared of him yesterday when he was angry with you, but after that he was very nice…Can we ask him to come please?'

'I will phone him and you can ask him. But I can't promise you that he will be able to come with us. It is very late notice, he might have other plans for today.' She thought it best to prepare Katie a little bit for a possible rejection. She picked up her phone, dialed the number and waited.

Mulder answered on the third ring. Dana explained that Katie wanted to ask him something and gave the phone to her.

After a short conversation, Katie handed the phone back to Dana, she had a big smile on her face.

'I gather that you will be joining us today,' Dana said. He confirmed and they agreed to that it would be easier and quicker if they picked him up, since it was on the way to the Zoo. Dana and Katie would pick him up in an hour, that way they would all have enough time to get ready and they would be at the Zoo just after opening time.


	8. The Zoo (part 1)

After cleaning up the breakfast table the girls went and got dressed. Katie reminded Dana that she could pick out her outfit. Dana had hoped that she would have forgotten that in all the excitement.

They should in front of her closet and Katie was looking at all the business suits that were hanging there.

'You can't wear one of those today,' she said. 'If I have to wear jeans, than you have to wear jeans as well...' She had a big smirk on her face when she said this.

Secretly Dana agreed with the little girl, but she decided to tease her a little bit. This girl didn't have enough fun in her life.

'But I want to wear that black pantsuit with the grey blouse. I look very good in that!'

'No, no, no... you have to wear jeans. We are going to the Zoo, not a school meeting,' Katie said with a very serious face.

'Okay, okay. I'll wear the jeans, but the blouse stays!'

Suddenly Katie looked a bit sad and disappointed. 'Don't you think that I can pick something nice for you to wear?'

'Oh, honey, I was only teasing you. Off course I think you can pick out something nice and fun for me to wear. I only have one pair of jeans that fit right, but I do have a couple of shirts that you can choose from for me to wear.'

She opened her dresser, took out the jeans and picked a few of her favourite "off hours" shirts. She had been shopping since she had started spending time with Katie, so now she had quite a selection to choose from..

'Okay, we have this black shirt, a blue one and this maroon one. Which one would you like me to wear?' Secretly she hoped Katie would pick the maroon one, it went surprisingly well with ear hair and it fit in all the right places. Knowing that Mulder was coming with them, she wanted to look extra good. She could still feel the small corner of his mouth she kissed last night. She hoped there would be another goodnight kiss tonight, but now when with full contact.

'I really like that one, Dana,' Katie was pointing to the maroon shirt.

'Good choice sweetie, I really like that one as well.'

When the girls were ready it was almost time to go over to Mulder's house. Dana had packed an extra set of clothes for Katie, just in case, and some small snacks and some drinks to take with them. She didn't want to spoil her by giving her everything she wanted, so that meant that she would have to say no to all the requests for sweets, ice cream and sugary drinks. Instead Katie could have some water, app,e juice, some fruit and crackers. Of course she would be able to choose something special for lunch, but it was important for Dana that there would be healthy things in between meals.

At precisely half past nine they pulled up at Hegal Place, but before they could get out of the car, Mulder came hopping down the stairs from the building. He went to the passenger side of the car and got in.

'Good morning ladies, all ready to explore the five continents of our beautiful world?' He greeted them.

'Good morning, Fox,' Katie replied. 'I've been ready since 6 this morning, but Dana made me go back to sleep again, so that I wouldn't get tired during the day!'

'Well, we wouldn't want that to happen, do we?' He answered. He glanced over to Dana with a small smile, it might even look like a bit of a shy smile.

"He too must be thinking about our goodnight kiss", Dana thought.

'Good morning Fox.' It still felt strange to call him by his first name, but she was glad that now she could. She smiled back at him, her smile a bit shy as well, and restarted the car.

During the drive Katie and Fox chatted about the Zoo and what they would be a able to do and see. Dana just listened and enjoyed them both. It was nice seeing Katie this open and it was great to see Fox interact with her. He was very good with he, patiently answering her questions and joking with her. He was a natural with her. Thirty minutes later they pulled up at the parking for the Zoo. And 10 minutes after that they were inside the Zoo.

'So, what do you want to do first, sweetie?' Dana asked Katie. There were three separate areas in the Zoo: the Jungle, the Serengeti and the North-pole. Each area also had their own ride.

They decided to start in the Jungle. This was the home of different monkeys, elephants and the butterfly garden. The first stop was the butterfly garden. Katie was amazed by al the different species of butterflies that were flying around, the next one even prettier than the last. Dana had brought her camera and was able to get a very good picture of a Blue Monarch and some snap shots of Katie enjoying herself with an amazed expression on her face.

After they left the garden they made their way over to the Monkey Temple. Here the monkeys have all the room they need. Again Katie was amazed at the monkeys and the way they were playing. She was very focused on two of the monkeys and asked Dana what they were doing. The pair in fact were very engrossed in each other and thoroughly enjoying themselves by the looks of it.

Dana started to blush a little. She had no idea what she could say to explain the situation to the six year old. Luckily for her Fox decided to jump in and rescue her.

'They like each other very much and show that to each other by cuddling really close,' he explained.

'You mean just like I like to cuddle mommy,' Katie answered.

'Yeah, something like that.'

Dana didn't know how much Katie would know about the birds and the bees, and what would be appropriate to tell her. Silently she mouthed thank you to Fox. The answer had satisfied Katie and she was already interested in a mother monkey with a baby on her back.

the next part is almost written, hopefully i will update again soon :)


	9. The Zoo (part 2)

Next on the list was the boat trip over the river. They got in line and after a short wait were seated in a small boat with a family of four. They were sitting on the first row of the boat, with Katie in the middle. The boat followed a track in the river, so nothing could happen. During the ride a voice from the speakers told them about what they were seeing. There were a lot of beautiful flowers and monkeys and birds had free range in this secluded part of the park. When they left the boat, Katie took both of their hands, Fox on her right and Dana on her left. Both Fox and Dana were surprised by this move and looked and smiled at each other over Katie's head.

There was a pick-nick area overseeing the elephant terrain. Dana decided that it was time for the first snack and they all sat down. Dana gave Katie a juice box and an apple and took out two bananas and two bottles of water for Fox and herself.

After the short break it was time to move over to the next area. Since Katie really wanted to see the penguins, they went to the North-pole next. Katie watched the penguins for fifteen minutes without getting bored, which gave Dana the time and the opportunity to get some great shots of her. She even managed to get Fox in a few of the pictures. It was nice to see him so relaxed and enjoy himself. She thought he should go out more and do more fun stuff, not only spend his time chasing aliens and monsters.

Next up was the 4D show, after standing in line for about 30 minutes they were let in and sat down and buckled in. The show was about a test drive with an airplane that was to explore the north pole. Off course there was some trouble along the way. Rats had managed to get in the plane and chewed some cables. An emergency landing was the result, where the plane slid across the glaciers. Katie enjoyed herself immensely and couldn't stop talking about it after they got out.

They decided to get some lunch and went in search of the restaurant. Again, Katie took both their hands while walking. After finding a nice place to sit, with a few of the polar bears, Fox offered to get in line for lunch.

'So what will you be having for lunch today Miss Katie?' he asked.

'Can I have a burger and some soda, please?'

Fox looked over at Dana to see if this was allowed. Dana nodded and added 'I'll have the same, please.'

Ten minutes later Fox returned with 3 burgers, 3 soda's and a basket of french fries. 'I thought we could share some fries to go with our burgers.'

During lunch they discussed what was next on the itinerary. Katie wanted to go see the black rats that had eaten through the cables of the plane and after that they would go to the Jungle.

'I'm looking forward to seeing the lions,' Dana said. 'I love the way the look, so strong and powerful, but they also because the look like cats.'

'Well, I wouldn't want to pet one of those cats, think of what they could do with those teeth and claws,' Fox replied.

'Will we be close enough to pet them?' Katie asked.

'No sweetie, and I have to agree with Fox, these are not the kind of cats you want to pet.

Again Katie took both of their hands as they made their way over to the last ride of the park. It was a train ride through the savanna, where they could get a good view of the zebra's, giraffes, rhinos and other animals. Because the train stopped at certain points, Dana had time to take some got shots of the various animals. When they got of the train, another passenger asked them if they would like a picture of the three of them together. They stood in front of the Savanna, with some animals in the background, and the man shot a view pictures of them.

It was nearly three when Katie asked if she could go play in the playground for a little while. She was getting excited when they got near and let go of both of their hands to run over to the playground. Somehow Dana found Fox's hand in hers and immediately felt him pull away. In order to stop him, she squeezed his hand lightly and felt him squeeze back. They looked at each other and then looked down at their linked hands.

The play ground was partially indoors, with a lot of water elements. There was a pirate boot and lots of sand to build sand castles with. A small cafe was inside the playground, with good view of the area, so that parents could enjoy a drink and still be able to watch their children play. Dana and Fox took a seat and told Katie that they were going to be sitting there, so that if she needed anything she would know where to find them.

'Would you like some coffee?' Dana asked.

'That would be great, let me get it for us.'

'No, you got us lunch, I'll get us some coffee, I'll be right back.'

While she was waiting in line, she thought about what happened, when they were holding hands. She liked the feel of his hand in hers and would very much like to feel it again. She knew they would have to talk about this, they were good at non verbal communication in the field, but this was different. They needed to talk about this, see where this was leading and they would need words for it, not just actions and looks.

'We've got to talk,' she said as she put the coffees on the table.

'I know,' he answered.

'Well, how about you stay over for dinner tonight and after Katie has gone to bed, we can talk, here and now is not the right place to discuss this. And I believe I have a nice bottle of wine in the fridge we could enjoy.'

Suddenly Katie came bouncing up to them.

'I love it here, Dana, thank you for bringing me!'

'You are very welcome, sweetie. Now how about you go play for another 30 minutes and then we can go back to watching some animals before we have to go home. Fox just agreed to have dinner with us. Is that okay?'

'Yes, can we have pasta please? I love the pasta you make!' and with that she went back to the play area.

The Zoo in this story is based on an actual Zoo in my home country, I've been there once with my nephew and he liked it very much. It does have 'rides' between the animals :)


	10. The Zoo (part 3)

AN: hello everyone... it's been a very long time since I've updated, but RL got in the way. Things have been hard and busy since I've last updated. Writers block didn't help either :). Hope you guys like this!

Fifteen minutes later Katie came back to the table they were sitting at. She had fallen in the water and now her jeans were wet.

'I fell in, and now I'm all wet,' she pouted

'That's okay, sweetie, that's why I packed extra clothes for you. I was kind off expecting something like this to happen,' Dana said. 'Let's go to the bathroom and get you changed.'

Both girls left and came back 5 minutes later, Katie in a different pair of jeans.

'Do you want to play for a little while, or should we go check out some more animals? They also have a petting zoo we haven't been to. They have rabbits, goats, chickens and donkeys you can pet.'

Katie wanted to go to the petting zoo, so that's where the three of them went to spent the last hour before the Zoo closed.

At first Katie was a little bit overwhelmed with all the animals there and available to pet, but once Fox had started to pet a baby goat, she got down next to him to pet it as well. After that she moved over to the other animals. She didn't like the pigs, but loved the rabbits.

'They're so soft, look Dana, I think this one really likes me!' She was holding a small rabbit, just a baby, it was snuggled up close to her and sniffling her. The tiny nose twitched and twitched, but it seemed content to let Katie pet her.

Dana took the opportunity to shoot some more pictures of Katie interacting with the different animals. She hoped the one of Katie with the baby rabbit and the one with Mulder, Katie and the baby goat would turn out well. She gave the camera to Mulder and asked him to take some pictures with Katie and her.

Finally it was time to go.

'Do we really have to go?' Katie asked. She was getting tired, that was obvious, but she had so much fun that she didn't want to go home.

'Yes, sweetie, the Zoo is closing and it's time to go home. Remember tomorrow we are going shopping with my mother for some stuff for your bedroom in my house. You will need your energy then as well. I don't want your mom to pick you up tomorrow evening and having you be exhausted.'

The ride in the car back to Scully's apartment was mostly silent. Katie was to exhausted to say much and Scully and Mulder knew that they would have time to talk after dinner.

Once at home, Mulder carried Katie inside and went to sit with her on the couch. They were going to watch a cartoon, while Scully was going to make dinner.

Even though Katie had rested on the ride home and when Scully was making dinner, she was still quiet during dinner. Scully and Mulder tried to make small talk with her, but she could hardly stay awake enough to eat the pasta. After dinner Scully gave her a quick bath and put her to bed.

'Tomorrow we are going to buy some things for this room for you, so that you have your own things here. But now it is time to go to sleep. Remember, I'm just outside in the living room or in my bedroom if you need something. Goodnight Sweetie.'

'G'night Dana, see you tomorrow,' was the sleepy response from Katie.

Scully went back to the living room, feeling a little bit apprehensive about the rest of the night. She had promised Mulder they would talk and she knew they had to, but talking about her feelings and emotions had always been hard for her. She found Mulder sitting on he couch, he had lit a fire and put on some jazzy music. The atmosphere was meant to be relaxing, but it made her feel a little on edge. After watching Mulder sitting on the couch with his hands clenched, she went over and joined him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both not knowing where and how to start the conversation.

' _One of us has to say something first_ ,' Dana thought.

'I believe I promised you some wine,' she said and got up again en went to the kitchen to get them some wine before he even got the chance to react.

AN2:

Hopefully I'll be able to update again soon, because I do love to write and want to see where this story will go (don't have a definitive ending in mind). If there is anything you would like to see happen, let me know!

If you would like to help me by beta-ing for me and keep me motivated and keep the updates coming, let me know. I work better with deadlines :)


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